Category Archives: Operations Management

WalMart’s supplier workplace allegations by third party activists and impact

An article in the New York Times (June 29, 2012) describes allegations by the National Guestworker Alliance against WalMart’s seafood and vegetable suppliers regarding worker wages and working hours. But WalMart and the suppliers allege that the data was aggregated … Continue reading

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Topshops within Nordstrom stores – a beneficial alliance for both ?

An article in the New York Times (July 12, 2012) describes a decision to open Topshop stores within Nordstrom’s stores. The limited line of Topshop fashion apparel, with new items delivered weekly, will enable Nordstrom to increase the speed of … Continue reading

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Private Equity ownership and bulk purchasing savings

An article in the New York Times(July 12,2012) describes the private equity firm, the Blackstone Group, which owns 74 companies with a combined 700,000 employees. Across its companies, the firm buys 15 million reams of paper, 35 million FedEx shipments … Continue reading

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Fracking in the US and guar seed farmer impact in India

An article in the New York Times (July 16,2012) describes how growth in fracking for oil has resulted in increased demand for guar, a water absorbing seed grown primarily in India. With prices rising dramatically amidst growing oil company demand, … Continue reading

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Impact of faulty US government data on pecan prices

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 5,2012) describes an overstatement of US pecan exports to Hong Kong and China in 2010 and 2011, which was corrected recently. The impact of higher exports was perceived impending shortages and thus … Continue reading

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Programmable NFC Tags and supply chain impact

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (July 16,2012) describes programmable tags using NFC (Near Field Communications) technology on physical objects. These tags can be read by NFC readers or smartphones with the read capability. Uses include tags on spice jars that can … Continue reading

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Legal copying, trends and demand generation

An article in the Wall Street Journal (August 11, 2012) describes how legal copying, permitted in fashion apparel, financial instruments, food etc, help those industries. By speeding up adoption of new ideas and designs, these industries benefit from the buzz … Continue reading

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The supply chain impact of shutting down the Federal Helium stockpile

An article in the Wall Street Journal (August 11, 2012) describes a plan to shut down crude helium reserves currently held by the US government that satisfy 33% of the world demand. Given that US pricing focuses on covering debt … Continue reading

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The interaction between the Renewable Fuel Standard, drought and hunger

An article in the Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal (August 11, 2012) describes the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS, which requires use of 13 billion gallons of ethanol based fuel this year and 36 billion gallons by 2022) and … Continue reading

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Boeing’s delivery delays, airline order cancellations and profit impact

An article in the Wall Street Journal (August 24, 2012) describes a decision by Quantas Airlines to cancel orders for 35 Dreamliner airplanes. Delivery delays meant that the promised 20% fuel efficiency and 30 % lower maintenance costs did not … Continue reading

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